Dr. Sam's Veterinary House Calls provides at home veterinary service for the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas. The house call fee is based on your location so please don't hesitate to contact me for a full estimate of services. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me by phone or email for further information.
Payment via cash or check is required at the time services are rendered. Due to the nature of house calls, patients are seen by appointment only. I will provide an approximate 30 minute window when as to when I will arrive, and will make every attempt to call you should I be running late or early.
My name is Dr. Samantha Ottinger also known to my clients as Dr. Sam. Following my graduation from Texas A&M University in 2004, I worked in a small animal clinic in San Antonio, Texas for a year. After deciding that the Texas summers were more than I could handle, I relocated to Pennsylvania in 2005.
After working at several veterinary clinics in the area, I decided to start my own house call practice in 2010. My goal in starting my own business is to provide quality veterinary care at home with minimal stress to my patients. I treat every one of my patients as if they were my own, and strive to give my patients the best care possible. In the event that the illness is beyond what I am able to care for in your home, I will ensure you are referred to a hospital that can continue to provide the best in care for your pet.
I set out to become a Veterinarian because of my love for animals, and have several pets of my own. I have two cats (Immay aka Mimi and Lulu), a shepherd/husky mix named Katy-did, and a mustang that I adopted from the bureau of land management named Casper.
Veterinary house calls allow patients to be examined in the comfort of their own home environment. This can alleviate the stress typically associated with taking your pets to the vet. Most animals will become stressed after being taken out of their environment, being transported in a car, and then being subjected to strange sounds, smells and people. An animal under stress may exhibit elevations in heart rate, respiration, temperature, and can exhibit changes in their behavior. These changes can mask the symptoms being presented at home or even create symptoms that were not present previously.
House calls are also a benefit to households with multiple dogs and cats. It is much more convenient for a household with a busy schedule to be able to schedule one appointment for all their animals to be seen at once, as opposed to having to pack up everyone and take them in to a veterinary clinic.
House calls are also beneficial to anyone with limited mobility or someone who does not does not have the ability to easily transport their animals to a clinic.
House calls also allow the doctor to be focused on the patient and the client during a visit because the normal clinic distractions are not present during a house call.
Overall a house call is less stressful for both the owner and the pet.